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Friday, April 6, 2012

Favorite Scene Friday! Watchmen: "The Times They Are a-Changin'"

I've had superhero films on the brain recently, what with our Avengers team up with Nerd Lunch and Cavalcade of Awesome these past few months. Today's scene isn't from a pre-Avengers movie or a Marvel film at all for that matter. Instead, I've chosen one of my favorite scenes from Zack Snyder's Watchmen - the opening sequence set to Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are a-Changin'".

In general, I could probably watch this film once a month. Maybe it's Snyder's directing or maybe it's the story or the cinematography. I find this scene in particular gorgeous and it really sets the tone for the rest of the film. The madness, death, and dastardly deeds on display only hint at what the movie has in store.

Probably the greatest aspect of the scene is the lush slow motion. Combined with Dylan's song the technique is almost hypnotic. I also get a kick out of the synthesis of fiction and real characters - JFK, The Village People, Nixon, Neil Armstrong, and Andy Warhol all make appearances. Even smaller details in the scene are great - 3:00 features a wintery snowglobe perched on a TV depicting a blazing Vietnam self-immolater.

Dylan's song really does make the scene, however. Read about it over on Wikipedia if you get the chance - it's got a great story in and of itself.

6 comments:

couldn't agree more! I'm sort of a Snyder fanboy and Watchmen fan as well, and I completely love what they did with the material. The opening was a pretty creative way to ease you into the Watchmen lore. Great stuff! Wish I had bought the ultimate cut on blu ray which is out of print now and going for a small fortune on e-bay